Even the iftaar party of Baba Sidiqqui couldn’t bring friends-turned-foes, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan back together. Well, this is Bollywood, friends can turn into ‘can’t see eye-to-eye’ enemies (a strong expression for rivals), and enemies could be clicking selfies together.

NEW DELHI: At least 81 people died and more than 80 lakh were affected in fresh floods due to excessive rains in worst-affected Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Odisha. While the death toll touched 48 in West Bengal, 28 died in Rajasthan and five in Odisha, a Home Ministry statement said here on Sunday.

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New Delhi, August 2

At least 81 people died and more than 80 lakh were affected in fresh floods due to excessive rains in worst-affected Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Odisha.

While the death toll touched 48 in West Bengal, 28 died in Rajasthan and five in Odisha, a Home Ministry statement said here on Sunday.

In West Bengal, 48 deaths have been reported from various parts of the state during the floods owing to lightning, wall collapse, electrocution, snake bite and drowning.

As reported by the state government, due to cyclone KOMEN, heavy to very heavy rainfall occurred at isolated places in almost all South West Bengal districts.

So far, 12 districts consisting of 210 blocks and 9,691 villages have been affected due to floods. Nearly 36.9 lakh people are affected.

The state government has deployed 121 boats for rescue and relief operations. A total of 5,672 cattle are also lost in the floods.

The state government has set up 1,537 relief camps and 2.14 lakh people have been accommodated, it said.

In Gujarat, 14 districts and population of about 40 lakh were affected in recent floods due to heavy rainfall in the last few days.

More than 10 lakh food packets have been airdropped or distributed to the flood victims, an official statement said here today. Temporary relief camps have been set up in affected areas and peoples are accommodated on need basis.

A total of 17 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed for rescue and relief operations in Gujarat.

In Rajasthan, so far 28 people have lost their lives, out of which 12 people died during past few days owing to very heavy rainfall and flood like situation in many parts of the state.

Rajasthan has experienced excessive rainfall in most of its districts. The situation is grim particularly in districts of Jalore, Jhalawar, Baran, Sirohi, Barmer and Dungarpur.

Apart from State Disaster Response Force, Police, RAC etc., at present eight teams of NDRF were deployed for rescue and relief operations.

So far, more than 630 peoples have been rescued from various districts in Rajasthan.

A total of five people lost their lives and 644 villages and population – 4.8 lakh are affected. ODRAF units are carrying out relief and rescue operations.

So far, 1,574 people have been evacuated to safer places.

Seven relief camps have been opened and 55 people have been accommodated. 132 boats have been deployed for rescue operations.

Two NDRF teams deployed in landslide-hit Manipur

Two teams of NDRF have been deployed to Manipur's Chandel district where 20 villagers were swept away in landslides yesterday.

One team of 22 rescuers of National Disaster Response Force has been airlifted and has already reached the worst affected Joumol village where 12 houses were also swept away by landslides yesterday.

The other team is reaching this evening, an official statement said here today.

Twenty people were killed in a landslide triggered by heavy incessant rain at Joumol village in Manipur's Chandel district yesterday.

The village is located about 96 km from Tengnoupa, the nearest town, of which 83 km is motorable. Rescue operations are going on and they have rescued one villager so far, the official said.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh has spoken to Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh over phone last night and assured him all central assistance to deal with the situation arising out of the massive landslides in Chandel district. — PTI

NEW DELHI: Setting the tone for tomorrow’s all-party meet, government and Congress were on Sunday engaged in a verbal clash, with the ruling side alleging “obstructionism” on part of the Opposition which, in turn, blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “arrogance” for the Parliament logjam.

KUALA LUMPUR/PARIS: Malaysia said on Sunday that airplane debris that washed up on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion has been identified as being from a Boeing 777, the same model as a Malaysian Airlines plane which vanished last year.

NEW DELHI: In its efforts to counter the growing radicalisation of the youth and the threat emerging from the Islamic State (IS), the government has decided to keep tabs on social media websites and applications to check radical, at times false, propaganda.

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Secretary General VSR Avadhani on Sunday strongly denied that Deputy Registrar Dr Anup Surendranath has resigned in protest against the apex court’s refusal to stay execution of Yakub Memon, convicted for his role in the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

NEW DELHI: India and Israel are likely to test-fire this month the long-range surface-to-air Barak 8 missile, jointly developed by the two countries, which can act as a potent shield against incoming missiles, aircraft and drones.

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NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday opened another front against the BJP as it raked up the row surrounding allotment of land to Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association during its rule and accused former CM PK Dhumal and his son Anurag Thakur of causing a loss of Rs 100 crore to the state exchequer.

JAMMU: Shutdown has been extended by three days, organisers of the bandh said even as reports of sporadic violence from parts of the city were reported on the third day of total shutdown to demand an AIIMS in the city on Sunday. A Congress leader was detained for a few hours during protests on Sunday.

HARIDWAR: The annual Shravan Kanwar pilgrimage commenced here today with Lord Shiva devotees arriving in large numbers from various parts of the country to fetch holy Ganga jal from the sanctum sanctorum of Braham Kund, Har-Ki-Pauri and adjacent Ganga ghats.

PARIS: Ending the crisis that has seen thousands of attempts by migrants to reach England from Calais in recent weeks is a "top priority", the interior ministers of France and Britain wrote in a joint statement today. Both countries are committed to tackling the problem together and have beefed up security to deter further bids by desperate migrants to smuggle themselves to Britain via the Channel Tunnel, the statement said.

NEW DELHI: With retail inflation showing no signs of abating, the RBI faces tough choice on cutting rate second time this fiscal to meet government and industry expectations of lowering cost of borrowing to boost growth.

KUALA LUMPUR: The sport of flying disc, commonly known as "frisbee", was officially recognised as an Olympic sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Sunday, opening the way for it to try and join the Games' programme in the future.

Even the iftaar party of Baba Sidiqqui couldn’t bring friends-turned-foes, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan back together. Well, this is Bollywood, friends can turn into ‘can’t see eye-to-eye’ enemies (a strong expression for rivals), and enemies could be clicking selfies together.

Photography holds power - the power of universal language and vital conversation. There is almost nothing left to imagination, yet everything to interpretation. Well, almost. “I love to click and click nature for that matter.

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